Assistant commissioner Natasha Johnson highlights rewards and challenges serving New Jersey families

Natasha Johnson, assistant commissioner of the Division of Family Development at the Department of Human Services, introduced herself and said she has worked for the department “for almost 15 years.”

“The most rewarding aspect of my job is knowing the number of New Jerseyans that benefit from the services we provide as a division and a department,” Johnson said, listing basic needs the agency helps meet “from shelter to food to child care to health care.”

Johnson said the most challenging part of her work is “navigating through very complex systems that are hard for people to understand,” and that those complexities can keep staff from getting families “the things they need the way that they need it.”

She offered a lesson from her experience: “Be patient and that every job experience will be a lesson,” Johnson said, adding that people learn from “the good experiences and the bad experiences.”

Johnson also spoke about the women in her family who influenced her career: “They are my mother, my grandmother, my great grandmothers, and my aunt,” she said, adding that she hopes her daughters see “the strong, independent women in their families” and that those examples will shape their lives and careers.

There were no formal motions or votes recorded in this session; the remarks were an introductory presentation by a department official.